“Military history is full of … great commanders who were felled in battle, often just as that battle was being won.”
By Douglas Brown
ACHILLES, one of the most beloved figures from Greek mythology, is something of a tragic hero.
After performing feats of martial daring and leading the Greeks to victory over the defenders of the city of Troy, the legendary champion was felled by an arrow. It’s the irony of his death, which comes at the moment of the very victory he himself helped bring about, that makes Achilles’ fate all the more poignant.
Military history is full of similar ‘tragic heroes’ in the tradition of Achilles; great commanders who were felled in battle, often just as that battle was being won. At least that’s how the propagandists of their day presented the story. Here are a few examples.
Epaminondas — Greece’s Greatest General
The Theban mastermind’s innovative tactics and flair for surprising the enemy broke Sparta’s power forever at the Battles of Leuctra and Mantinea. At Leuctra, Epaminondas weighted his left flank with a 50-rank-deep phalanx and attacked en echelon, routing a larger Spartan army. At Mantinea in 362 BC, he found himself facing a combined Spartan and Athenian force. He repeated his tactics from Leuctra after first having his troops pull back and ground arms, causing the enemy to let their guard down. Epaminondas’s surprise attack proved successful again, but he went down in the fray. His last words called for peace. Thebes produced no worthy successor and lost its ascendancy soon afterwards.
Theodoric the Visigoth — Attila’s Nemesis
In 451, Attila the Hun invaded Gaul intent on conquering the crumbling Western Roman Empire. His fearsome army caused the Romans to momentarily set aside their differences with the barbarians settled in Gaul, foremost among them Theodoric and the Visigoths. The two armies met in the legendarily ferocious Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Theodoric and his Visigoth shieldwall held the right flank against charges from their Ostrogoth cousins and the dreaded Hunnish horse archers. As Theodoric tried to inspire his men, he was either thrown from his horse and trampled or killed by an Ostrogoth spear. The Visigoths got their revenge as they counterattacked Attila’s flank and drove his army from the field. When Rome fell, it did so to German barbarians, not the Huns.
Andrew de Moray — William Wallace’s Silent Partner
William Wallace has of course achieved much greater fame, but his co-commander, Andrew de Moray, deserves his share of the glory. While Wallace raised a rebellion against Edward I of England in southern Scotland, Moray led the north of the country. He then joined his army with Wallace’s for the Battle of Stirling Bridge on Sept. 11, 1297. Moray and Wallace allowed the English vanguard to cross the bridge, then charged. The Scottish advance blocked the bridge and drove the English van into a river bend where it became trapped and was slaughtered. Moray had a hand in personally killing Edward’s loathed treasurer, Hugh Cressingham. However, Moray drops out of the historical record in November of 1297. Apparently, he succumbed to wounds sustained at Stirling Bridge. Wallace’s next battle without him would prove a complete disaster.
Nicholas, Count von Salm — The Man Who Stopped the Turks
A 70-year-old veteran by 1529, Count von Salm’s last mission proved his most formidable. De facto, if not official, commander, he led the garrison of Vienna against a Turkish army as much as ten times its size under the illustrious Suleiman the Magnificent. The city had poor fortifications, improved only by frantic last-minute efforts. For two weeks, Salm led a gallant resistance. The garrison conducted sorties, countermined, and vigorously defended any breaches the Turks made in the walls with mines. On Oct. 14, during the last desperate Turkish assault, Salm was struck in the hip by a stone fragment. He never recovered and died several months later. The defenders, however, fought on and repulsed the Turks one last time. The Ottoman advance across Europe came to a halt.
Gustavus Adolphus — “I shall hazard my body and blood with you for your best.”
In 1630, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden led his army into Germany to rescue the Protestant cause during the Thirty Years War. After a whirlwind of success in 1631, Gustavus faced off against Albrecht von Wallenstein’s army at the town of Lutzen on Nov. 16, 1632. From late morning until dark, the Swedes assaulted Wallenstein’s prepared positions and artillery batteries as they choked on the smoke from the burning town. With his infantry breaking and his local commanders down, Gustavus led a cavalry charge personally. He became separated from his men and was pistoled and stabbed to death. The two armies fought to mutual exhaustion and decimation. Wallenstein, however, abandoned his artillery and baggage, giving Gustavus a posthumous victory. Protestantism would endure in Germany.
John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee
The Glorious Revolution in England led to civil war in Scotland between Jacobites seeking to restore James II and Covenanters in support of William III. On July 27, 1689, Bonnie Dundee’s outnumbered Highland Jacobites loomed over Hugh MacKay’s Lowland Covenanters from the high ground at Killiecrankie. Dundee unleashed a Highland Charge down the slope. The Covenanters bloodied the Highlanders with a powerful volley, then melted away before the terrifying onslaught of howling Gaels and flashing claymores. As Dundee waved his hat to encourage his cavalry forward, a bullet pierced his side. The wound proved fatal. The Jacobites had no one who could replace Dundee; their rebellion eventually foundered.
James Wolfe — “Don’t grieve for me. I shall be happy in a few minutes.”
Young James Wolfe sailed with his army to Quebec in 1759 to wrest Canada from the French as Britain and France vied for global supremacy in the Seven Years War. After months of frustrating failures, on the night of Sept. 12 to 13, the British boldly landed upriver of the city by scaling a cliff to reach the Plains of Abraham. This move forced the French to attack. As their advance fell into disorder, the British poured on a devastating volley. The French broke and ran. Wolfe had taken a shot to the chest, however. He learned of his victory, issued a final order, and expired. The North American interior would soon become a British possession.
Sir Ralph Abercromby — “Twenty Eighth, remember Egypt!”
In 1801, the British government dispatched a force to eject Napoleon’s army from Egypt before the French could claim it at the peace negotiations. The army’s reputation stood at its nadir after its defeats in the American and French Revolutionary Wars. After a bold amphibious landing under fire at Aboukir Bay, Sir Ralph Abercromby’s stalled army awaited a French counterattack outside Alexandria. In the predawn hours of March 21, the French surprised the British. As the sun rose, however, the stubborn British resistance wore down the French offensive. Abercromby, in the thick of things, was caught in a French cavalry charge and was shot in the thigh. His wound became infected. He died a week later, but the British army had redeemed its reputation. In subsequent battles of the Napoleonic Wars, British commanders would exhort the regiments that had fought in Egypt to repeat their performance.
Horatio Nelson — “Thank God I have done my duty.”
On Oct. 21, 1805, Horatio Nelson dashed Napoleon’s plans of invading Britain forever. After chasing a Franco-Spanish fleet to the West Indies and back, he brought them to battle off Cape Trafalgar. Nelson’s plan called for two columns of British ships to sail into the larger Franco-Spanish fleet, sever the van, and defeat the other two sections in detail. As Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, locked with the French Redoutable, the British devastated the French ship with cannon fire while the French decimated the Victory’s upper deck with musketry and grenades. Nelson was hit by a ball that drove into his spine. Sailors and marines carried him below to the surgeon. He lingered long enough to learn that his fleet had captured half the enemy ships before he died. Nelson received a hero’s funeral, and the Royal Navy would enjoy global supremacy for a century.
Sir John Moore — “I have always wished to die this way.”
In late 1808, Sir John Moore led a British army into Spain to aid the Spanish in their rebellion against Napoleon. The campaign turned into a nightmare. With little aid from the Spanish and a large French army threatening to cut them off, the British had to retreat in the dead of winter through frozen roads and snow in the Galician mountains to reach the port of Corunna. From there, the Royal Navy could evacuate them, but first, on Jan. 16, 1809, the exhausted army had to fight a rearguard action to cover the embarkation. Moore rallied the 42nd Highlanders and sent them back into the fight with a bayonet charge. As he did, a roundshot tore out his shoulder. The British army repelled the French and sailed from Spain, leaving the deceased Moore buried in the citadel. When the British returned under Sir Arthur Wellesley, they would eventually drive Napoleon’s troops out of Spain and invade France itself.
Douglas Brown is a Texas-based writer who specializes in military history and historical fiction. His novel The Honorable Spy was released by Cheetah Publishing in July of 2022. Buy it on Amazon HERE. Follow him on Twitter @DougBrownAuthor or Instagram at douglasbrownauthor, or like his Facebook page, “Douglas Brown – Author.”
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